Ahead of the safety summit next week with Secretary Ray LaHood, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (AAM) has rallied behind a ban on hand-held texting and cell phone use while driving.

A recent study, has shown that texting is more than 23 times more dangerous than talking on a cell phone while driving. To put it another way, that’s 2,200 percent riskier. And earlier studies by have shown that merely holding a conversation even on a hands-free cell phone is as dangerous as drunk driving.

AAM consists of 11 automakers, including BMW, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Porsche, Toyota, and Volkswagen. Many of the organization’s members are developing hands-free and voice recognition systems that will allow drivers to send and receive text messages and phone calls without looking away from the road. That may reduce the danger, but it still leaves motorists as vulnerable as having a drunken driver on the road, according to a joint study by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (PDF).

—Eric Evarts

For more information on distracted driving see our related reports:
Anti-texting video to scare drivers straight
Using wireless communication devices while driving
Cell phone use and driving laws
Dangers of cell phones while driving
Should cell phone use by drivers be illegal?
Texting while driving
Talking in the slow lane